Monday, December 31, 2012

Johnny's got some partying to do and so he's shutting the offices for now. We have a tradition that the last song before midnight is the Rolling Stones playing the best ever version of 'Gimme Shelter'. We are very happy to be able to continue that tradition for another year.

Have fun tonight Jersey City, Hoboken, New York City and everyone else. Here's to a wonderful 2013!

Prevening. You know, as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory explained, the time between 4:30 and 6:00pm. Pat Benatar is here to tell you a warning tale of something that comes with a lot of strong drink, bloodshot eyes.

Here are the Flying Lizards covering a song that gets right to the root of tonight, Money. Need some good grog to drink? Money. New dress or tux? Money. Tickets to a club or an event? Money. Cab fare? Money. Reading the Jersey City Desk? Yeah, that's free.

...It's still a great song. Dale Bozzio, lead singer of Missing Persons did quite a bit of work with Frank Zappa, including her famous turn on the song 'Crew Slut'. No Zappa here though, just Missing Persons with 'Walking in L.A.'

Today the PATH will run both ways between Newark and the World Trade Center, Journal Square and 33rd Street, and Hoboken and 33rd Street, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.Starting at 10 p.m. tonight through 5 a.m. on New Year's Day, service will run approximately every 10 minutes between Hoboken and 33rd Street, Newark and 33rd Street and Journal Square to 33rd Street. There will be no service between Newark and the World Trade Center during that time.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Remember when we all snickered last week in our "coverage" of the Jets game because it was pointless? Here's the preview of today's Giants game:

OK, now that that unpleasantness is behind us, wait, what's that you say? The Giants still have an outside squeaker of a chance to make the playoffs. Yes, if the Detroit Lions somehow win in late December in Chicago the Giants could make it.

So cheer for the Giants to sack, harass and smash Mike Vick. He deserves no less. But expect a real gameday thread when the Lions need to win on the shores of Lake Michigan? Pfffffffffft.

How 'bout those Spartans? Johnny's MSU squad stuck with the gameplan and fought back from a 13-0 halftime deficit and beat the TCU Horned Frogs late 17-16 in a bowl game having something to do with chicken wings. Sparty on.

A couple of MTA nuggets to pass along this morning. One useful, the other entertaining. First off the MTA is debuting their new "Subway Time" app which will let you know when the next train is coming. Great idea but terrible name. Really, Subway Time? One expects to see Jared smiling down from the top navbar on the app. Johnny will dash off a list of acceptable new names first of the new year. Joe Lhota's replacement, you be sure to look for that. Currently the app only lists certain lines. Gothamist, make sense of all this:

To be sure, the app is still a work-in-progress. As of today, it only shows arrival times for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6 trains and the 42nd Street S shuttle, so that soul-crushing feeling triggered by watching passengers swarm the 14th Street Tunnel of Hell as the L train pulls away below is not quite a thing of the past.
Sorry, iPhone and iPad only for now...

The temperature will hover in the mid-30s – just cold enough for the snow to safely stick, but no colder. The breeze will be sufficient to make cheeks rosy, but will not slash at the skin or penetrate down the necks of parkas.For the better part of the day, the snow will continue – gently, never blinding. By the time it ceases for good shortly before midnight, two to four inches will have fallen – just enough, perhaps, to permit sledding.
So 2-4 inches of wet snow, perfect for making a snowman is on the way. Enjoy your beautiful Saturday.

Well Rutgers never did get that 10th win this year that helps broadcast a program has arrived. They lost in overtime to Virginia Tech 13-10 in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The 9-4 Scarlet Knights led 10-0 in the fourth quarter before it all went south.

Here we go with the last music series of 2012 (Of course we'll have our rolling New Year's Eve musical celebration on Monday) and what better way to kick it off than the ravishing and brilliant Liz Phair and her chart rocket 'Extraordinary'

First rule of video making. If you're gonna use a filter on some old home movies for god's sake get yourself a massive song and or soundtrack to run it with. The filmmaker here gets that part. Johnny's plum run out of superlatives for the tracks on Ms. Case's Middle Cyclone album. So without further delay here is one of Johnny's favorite "ginger ninjas" with "I'm an Animal'

Friday, December 28, 2012

Johnny was about to write a piece admonishing the horrendous acts of Nouel Alba, who is accused of pretending to be the aunt of one of the children murdered in Connecticut last week and trying to raise money off of it. He was going to ask for your help in apprehending another subway "pusher" who shoved a man to his death on the 7 line yesterday.

Architectural quirks are all about. The Tower of Pisa leans. The flagpole in centerfield at the old Tiger Stadium was in play. Manhattan's grid gives New Yorkers Manhattanhenge a couple times a year. New York also plays host to the subway quirk at Delancey and Essex Streets where one line is up (F) one set of stairs and one downstairs (M). The NYT explains:

But at Delancey Street, the F is downstairs, a short walk from the M, but hopelessly out of view from the other train’s platform. The M shares a track with downtown J and Z trains.

So the straphangers have come together to relay info up and down the stairway if the train coming is the right train coming:

As with any worthy production, the participants have come to master their roles. On a recent weekday morning, an orderly line formed, stretching from the upstairs M platform, down a flight of stairs to the F, then back up a separate staircase. (Riders say this formation allows word to travel fastest when the proper train arrives.)

Some travelers heard a stirring overhead — an M train, they wondered? No, a young man instructed from the top of the staircase, peering at the platform. Hold your positions.

A breeze wafted up to the turnstiles. An F? Not yet, said a station sage, unmoving. The gust, he said, had not been stiff enough to have come from an F.

Coming together, helping out and making life easier for strangers. Saving people a few valuable minutes on a workday. Isn't that the kind of place we want to live in? Johnny thinks so.

Everyone seems to be in a better mood, people seem more relaxed. You've seen or touched base with family recently. Many have reduced or no hours at work and can practice sleeping in for one glorious week a year. It starts with family and presents and ends with nacho dip and football.

Northwestern parts of the state could see as much as 8 inches of snow, the central and southern parts of the state could get heavy rain causing local flooding, and the coastal areas of Monmouth and Ocean counties should expect to see 50 mph wind gusts and possible coastal flooding, weather watchers are predicting.
Dear Hoboken, get ready for the possibility of bad things. Don't get caught this time. Everyone go to Weehawken.

Dear Port Authority, get ready for the possibility of bad things. This will be fresh water until it isn't if you get our drift.

So hopefully the city also had the good sense to stop giving out tickets for not moving your cars for street sweepers to come through. The city is also allowing free two hour parking in municipal lots through Jan. 2 as well.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Tonight friends and dear readers gather around the fire and curl up under a warm blanket. Get a cup of cocoa and sit back and listen to perhaps the funniest story about all things Santa Claus, St, Nicholas, and 6 to 8 Black men. David Sedaris and his brilliant look at Christmas across cultures from his Live at Carnegie Hall CD. It's perfectly safe for the kids to boot.

Let's see if we can't help find this little gal and get her home for Christmas:
LOST DOG IN JC! PLEASE SHARE! Black toy poodle, roughly 5 lbs, microchipped, likely wearing a pink collar. Last seen on 12/23 at pet sitter's house in downtown Jersey City off Wayne St. Please contact Michael if you have any leads call or take her to k9dergarten (173 Newark Ave), there is a reward for her safe return. 609-357-8255 or email Maricol at maricel75@gmail.com. Reward, no questions asked.

You can boil the Giants game today down to this quote from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome:

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... dying time's here!"
The Giants are tied with the Redskins and Cowboys at 8-6 yet trail Washington and Dallass in tie-breakers. If Big Blue doesn't come home from their short hop down to Baltimore today, next week's winnable finale against the Sheagles might not matter. Dying time is today. The Ravens have already clinched the AFC North. They have some banged up guys that they may well be resting as they look pretty well locked into the AFC's #4 seed.

Eli can't throw one of those dunderheaded interceptions that cost the Giants field position. They have to run against the Ravens, no easy task but they need to run. They need to keep Ray Rice off the field. If ever the G-Men have needed to hang their hats on the defense today is that day. The defense must be stout. They have to tackle well, communicate well in the secondary as to make any Ravens drives not a blown coverage 3 play 80 yard drive. Details details details. If the Giants can mind them, they should have a chance.

It's no winter wonderland out there right now Jersey City but it doesn't mean we can't kick off the Christmas edition of the music series with The Brian Setzer Orchestra and the sassy-n-brassy 'Winter Wonderland' which we'll use as our "snow dance" to try and bring a few flakes our way by Christmas Eve.

'Run Rudolph Run' as we've mentioned here before has been re-recorded by just about everyone. For Johnny's holiday money he thinks the Dave Edmunds version might truly be his favorite. Who knew a reindeer with a red nose would inspire so darned much music.

What can we say about the 1963 Ford Galaxie? well, it has an illuminated ashtray. That's a real necessity. That way at the end of the day you can look in your lighted ashtray say "Goddamn, I have a smoking problem." It has those hand crank vent windows that always added that wonderful wind whistle to any long car trip. The real selling point of this Galaxie is Ford's 'swing-away' steering wheel which is so cool how is it legal? Is this so the driver can eat dinner with a plate and proper flatware or look at a map while the passenger drives? Hell with 'swing-away' technology the driver could take a nap (which technically wouldn't make them the driver but....shut up!) and you can still try to make it to your destination.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

St. Peter's hasn't exactly been an offensive machine this season but last night The Pride of Jersey City were en fuego on their way to an 80-67 beat down of LIU-Brooklyn, who won the NEC last year. Desi Washington was really lights out for the Peacocks. He had 28 while Yvon Raymond had a very strong game as well. St. Peter's was a little streaky last night and you can't always count on those nice runs but boy when you get a night when they happen it's frosting on the cake.

St. Peter's is 5-5 (as is LIU-Brooklyn for those keeping score) and play at home again this Saturday against Loyola of Chicago Illinoize who start three players with the last name of Ditka. Come on out to the Yanitelli Center at 2pm and see some great college action. It's not like the Devils are offering you anything.

Johnny would agree, besides there just aren't many places for an 18 hole golf course around the Grove St. PATH station let alone windmill golf. But walk Johnny did looking for the goings on this morning around town. A well behaved morning commute.

To the trains, to the trains, and hope the escalator is working and you win the seat lottery played twice daily.

It's a dreadful sound really, the one reminding you the street sweeper is coming and if you don't move civic improvements are on you.

No better place to get the most important meal of the day than The Little Sandwich Shop. Tip Top!

And Johnny and the staff couldn't be more relaxed about this pending doom. They figure they'll just hang out at the Jersey City Desk offices on Friday with friends just in case (We'd of course have to put up a post about how exactly the world is ending so literally a handful of people could read it before we're gone daddy gone). We'll lay in the beer and the sammiches and see what happens.

What about you good readers, do you have plans for your coming end? Going to the bar? To church? To see The Hobbit? Flicking pennies off the Empire State Building? Share your end of days plans with us in comments.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

If today is your birthday you share it with one of Johnny's all-time favorite musicians and someone you swore would never ever see 69, Keith Richards. Happy Birthday Keef! Here's a sidenote to the birthDATE, it is shared, and he's also 69 today, by longtime Rolling Stones contributing sax player Bobby Keyes.

And the Jersey City Medical Center at 355 Grand St. is holding a blood drive until 6:30pm today so there is still plenty of time. After you give blood come on back here and read the amazing story of Michael Maggiore and his plea for blood donations.

Plus after you're done "Don't be shy about helping yourselves to punch and cookies."

Johnny's gonna go help cheer The Pride of Jersey City on to a .500 record vs. LIU Brooklyn. The St. Peter's Peacocks are 4-5 on the young season and finishing up non-conference play before the MAAC season gets here. Why not come on out and support OUR Peacocks Jersey City!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sorry, nothing to do with Jersey City or Hudson County today. But Johnny did hear a nugget dropping off some Christmas packages to ship today. Today is the 1989 anniversary of The Simpsons gracing American teevee.

"We’re worried about having a big event and having drivers working for days without sleep — that could cause an accident," Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson said. "So we said, ‘You know what we need to do? We need to get as many extra people that we can."

So if you enjoy being on the road with little traffic to block your path and wanna make some good coin, here is the contact info:

Applicants can send résumés or letters describing qualifications, along with a copy of their Class B CDL license with air brake endorsement, to: NJDOT, P.O. Box 602, Trenton, N.J., 08625-0602 or NJDOTJOBS@dot.state.nj.us. (Since Johnny told you about this if you get the job you have to come plow his street first)

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Well not so much buy a tree, he could do that here. Instead he went out to "top" some poor sucker's pine tree is a better description. Since Johnny has scruples he chose not to do this to anyone in New Jersey. East Stroudsburg PA was right there on the border so there you have it.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Christmas is upon us and Christmas shopping season is in full swing. Our question today is do you prefer going out with the people to actual stores and maybe work a lunch in or do you prefer to do your holiday shopping exclusively online?

We noticed you haven't addressed this nugget of info. 67% is the graduation rate at Jersey City high schools. When Johnny went to school 67% was barely keeping your head above water with a D-. Now, Jersey City does indeed have a new boss running the schools, Marcia V. Lyles. Mr. Mayor you may be tempted to tell us she needs time to bring these numbers up. You might be tempted to tell us Rome wasn't built in a day. You may be tempted to gloss over these numbers while you run for reelection because new blood is on the job.

So, once again Mr. Mayor, how about a comment on these horrible graduation rates and what YOU specifically plan on doing to help schools, we mean other than having your Ward A candidate call Jersey City school girls "our worst enemy."

The 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief is gonna be huge. Not just because of the magnificent lineup but because that magnificent lineup will be broadcast live and free in so many spots. Locally you can watch it on public TV stations NJTV, WLIW, THIRTEEN, as well as cable channels HBO, VH1 Classic, MSG and Fuse. If you can't get to a television you can listen on the radio at the following stations: New York radio stations 106.7 Lite FM, 103.5 KTU, Z100, Q104.3 and Power 105.1, along with 103.7 NNJ in Sussex.

Seriously, chances are that your neighbors are inside asleep or watching Maury reruns at 3:20 in the AM. So what's the harm in walking down the street in your pajama bottoms and a shirt all set off nicely by your fashionable air rifle? Air rifle, a BB gun air rifle, so you won't even hear the shots....until they hit a opossum or a car window.

Just a disgusting story, one we wish we didn't have to read and share. Nechemya Weberman, a non-licensed "therapist"and Jewish community leader, was convicted of 59 counts of sexual abuse for his dastardly part in abusing a young girl who was forced to see Weberman at school from the ages of 12-17. The Brooklyn DA proved that Weberman, among other things, would make the underage girl watch pornography and then make her reenact the scene with him. This trial certainly pulled back the curtain on the underside of the Hasidic community in Brooklyn. A world of an unlicensed and predatory "therapist" who had the support (still) of much of his community. In fact, four men acted out in trying to intimidate this young girl from testifying:

Prosecutors charged Abraham Rubin, 48, of Williamsburg with bribery, witness tampering and coercion. They said that he had been recorded offering the accuser’s boyfriend the money, and he suggested that the young couple could flee to Israel to avoid testifying. He also offered to provide them with a lawyer who could help them avoid cooperating with prosecutors.Prosecutors also charged three brothers, Jacob, Joseph and Hertzka Berger, with coercion, saying they threatened and then removed the kosher certification of a restaurant run by the accuser’s boyfriend. The brothers are sons of a local rabbi who issues kosher certifications to stores.

Yesterday, the already disturbing trial of Nechemya Weberman—a Hasidic counselor who has been accused of sexually abusing a teen girl in Brooklyn for years— took another disturbing turn when four people were taken into custody for photographing the victim in court. Those four men—including one who has been identified as "Lemon Juice"—were arrested and have now been charged with criminal contempt in the second degree; they could serve up to one year in jail. "This is on the Internet now," Supreme Court Justice John Ingram told the four ultra-Orthodox men. "It's probably streamed all over the world."The four men—who have been identified by prosecutors as Joseph Fried, Yona Weisman, Abraham Zupnick and, seriously, Lemon Juice (you can see his driver's license here)—are accused of taking photos of the now 17-year-old victim while she was testifying in court on Wednesday and Thursday. They were able to email it out before they were caught—you can see one of the photos (with blacked out faces) above. Nine cell phones were confiscated altogether by Judge Ingram.

Despicable isn't it? The lengths some people will go to to protect a predator.

So besides putting away a hideous child predator we also see how business runs in the Hasidic community in Brooklyn. It's just not too attractive is it? Johnny's gonna go wash now.

Saying he was taking a great idea being used in other locales and inspired by the city's youth movement Mayor Jerramiah Healy late last week said some 54.7 miles of new bike lanes were coming to our fair city.

“There’s a new movement,” he said. “It’s a new goal and we thank a lot of our new people who have come to Jersey City in the last 10 to 15 years and their youth and their energy and their ideas. We know they’ve done it in Newark and it’s being done in Hoboken and we’re going to do it here in Jersey City.”

The 54.7 miles of designated bike paths will include 35.2 miles of bike lanes and 19.5 miles of shared lanes marked with “sharrows” arrows (no doubt where most of the accidents will happen but we digress).

A great idea, we do wonder why it took looking at the success of other cities' bike lanes, but it is more important Jersey City (recently voted a top walking city in the USA) provides to the non-car/truck environmentally responsible commute with those wishing to enjoy a more environmentally friendly commute. Healy also said local businesses would get a break on buying bike racks for their stores.

Everyone seems to be on board thus far with glowing reviews for the idea especially from the State Department of Transportation:

Well pigskin fans, the calendar has turned to December. One New Jersey based team is alive in the playoff race and one, if they lose today, will most likely get the coaching staff broomed and the players purged at season's end.

In the dog game (with apologies to dogs) the Swamplands Jetropolitans travel to scenic Jacksonville to see if they can't somehow get a win against a team with a total of two thus far. The Jets aren't horrible in road results at 2-3 and Jacksonville is 1-5 in ____________ Bank Stadium. Since Mark Sanchez got the hook last week and the Jets won, and both Tebow and McElroy available his leash is short indeed. But let's face facts, sans a great effort against Houston these are toothless Jaguars. We think this game will play out the way the Rams game did a few days back.

Fearless forecast:
Jetropolitans 20
Jacksonville 19

Air Brees rolls into the New Meadowlands and gets ready for takeoff around 4:30pm. This is a dangerous game for the G-Men. Brees normally doesn't suck all day long and is capable as anyone of hanging a 4 TD game on you. Today's insurance policy is the fact Baltimore plays at Washington and not Cleveland. Dallas is in Cincinnati because the league made them go there and will face a very hot Bungles squad. Sure the Giants have a better record than the Saints. Sure they're at home. Sure they should win.

So why is this game scaring the bejeepers out of Giants fans? Johnny has that same sinking feeling. We think it'll be point filled and crazy but we think the Saints make a stand.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

A big show just got bigger as the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World have said they will play at Wednesday's 12-12-12: The Concert For Sandy Relief at MSG. The big show already had commitments from Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Paul McCartney, The Who, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, and Billy Joel. If you follow this here link to Gothamist whur we'un found this musical news nugget you'll see something cool Mick and Keef are up to this week in town.

Two things; It's a bad idea to go on after The Who as we learned at the Concert for New York City after 9/11 and two, Johnny will use any mention of the Rolling Stones to play a video.

Somewhere one day a record company executive sat down with the band Red Rider in the infancy of the video age and said to them "Great song, GREAT song, love it to tears guys. Look we want to make one of these here newfangled "music videos" and we only had $12.95 left over in promo budget this month. Can you film it for $11?"

Friday, December 7, 2012

Starting tomorrow, and for the next two weekends (weekends only) the PATH will only be running between Newark Penn and the WTC. No 33rd St. line (You know, the big Christmas shopping weekends). The Port Authority said this will allow them 48 hours of uninterrupted work to try and get the Hoboken station back up and running.

Great guys, why did you wait until NOW to do this? You've had a month to take care of this on weekends. Once again, it seems nobody with a brain is in charge at the Port Authority.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

If today is your birthday you share it with comedian Steven Wright. A few samples of his work before bed:

*The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
*OK, so what's the speed of dark?
*How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
*When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
*Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
*You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
*The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

And of course:
*I stayed up all night playing poker with tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

We figured since Best Buy isn't going to trumpet this little known "company policy" this holiday season Johnny would do it for them. Johnny warned Mrs. Johnny about shopping at Best Buy, especially for a large ticket item. Sure enough, the refrigerator was mis-measured for the space it was supposed to fit into so it was sent back before it was even deboxed.

So why can't Johnny get credit over the phone with the credit card used? Well a manager at the Vauxhall locale (Hi Nabilia) said it was company policy not to give credits for items unless you trek back into their store. Nabilia wouldn't give a reason as to why. We have a good guess, so when you go to return something they can grab the appliance/television and video/home electronics "manager" to come upsell you something else. They won't give you your money back (and save us the sad story about not KNOWING who you are over the phone) unless you come in for the Best Buy equivalent of a time-share pitch.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The scene where Rocky Balboa points out a mistake in the giant poster in the arena, that he's a left handed fighter though the poster shows him as a righty, was unscripted; Sylvester Stallone was forced to add the line because the art department made a genuine mistake. Now you know.

Khalid McClenton is a guy with a Twitter account like millions. However millions didn't hold up illegal weapons themselves for all the world to see on Twitter. #McClenton was booked into Hudson County Jail last week (#HudsonCountyJail) for the sawed-off #shotgun he was showing off. When police arrived at his home they found several prohibited weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun, a #handgun and two knives.

#Think people, #think. Cops are on the Twitter as well and if you're known to them or perhaps wanted, you might want to recheck ALL your followers.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A strong vote of confidence in Mayor Healy from the 4,000 member strong Jersey City Education Association today with JCEA President Ron Greco saying Healy is “motivated by what’s best for Jersey City.” Bill Murawski, president of AFSCME Local 2262, called the mayor “a man of his word who understands Jersey City’s working families.”

Healy said he was honored by the support:

Everything I do as mayor is motivated by what’s best for Jersey City and the future of all the families who live here,” he said in the statement. “Nothing is more important than looking out for Jersey City’s children."
This announcement certainly hits the ball back into Councilman Steve Fulop's court. It would appear that his influence with those associated with schools may run a mile deep but perhaps only three feet wide even with his spate of backing the winning candidates in recent victories for Board of Education. Time will tell on this but this certainly is a big day for the Healy campaign.

"A professional hockey team is one of the things New York has been missing."
By the way NY Daily News, the football teams with the New York moniker both happily play in New Jersey. Next time get your heads out of your collective asses BEFORE you opine.

With apologies to Kid Rock and the city of Detroit for the headline but it simply fit so well with this story. By now many of you have heard of the train derailment in southern Jersey near Paulsboro. Because the train contents were toxic people had to be evacuated. Conrail set them up in a Motel 6 until conditions in Paulsboro could be made safe.

Police received a call from said Motel 6 last night about a noise complaint. It was then they realized just how good Paulsboro parties can be. Those who were staying on Conrail's dime decided to throw a huge bash and throw a huge bash they did. When police arrived they found 22 people in one room (in a Motel 6 no less) and police arrested 16 adults and six juveniles and charged them with disorderly conduct, said police. But wait, this is a Paulsboro party, there's more!

In the room, one of 14 rented by Conrail until Saturday for Paulsboro residents evacuated because of Friday's train derailment, police allegedly found unspecified amounts of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol, said police. Additional drug charges, as well as charges of maintaining a nuisance and providing alcohol to minors, are pending, police said.

Didn't Governor Christie ask us all to pull together after disasters? Sounds to us like these people were trying to do just that. Mental note to self; Paulsboro for bachelor parties.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Johnny was perusing Gothamist this morning and they had an awesome link to a Library of Congress song from 1904 extolling the virtues of the new underground subway, where, according to one verse:

If married and home is unhappy, you can now hide away from your wife down in the subway.
Sounds all thug-life doesn't it? Just click play below and be prepared for some magical lyrics and the realization that yes, they did make recorded music back in 1904.

*A towering structure in the shadow of the Verrazano Bridge, with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, complete with twin 640-foot gates or "locks".*80-foot rock barrier rising from the Atlantic Ocean, stretching for 5 miles from Breezy Point, Queens, to Sandy Hook, N.J. — and topped with a new highway.*A 1,700-foot wall spanning the Arthur Kill, featuring a pedestrian walkway, a bike path, hydroelectric power and a system of locks for passing ships.
Either way the area chose to go about this it is no longer being considered a pier in the sky idea, it is very real and some serious people are serious about making something like this happen. We here at the Jersey City Desk are for making something like this happen. Our plan would be the giant locks idea. It has proven to work in the Netherlands and we'd not need to reinvent the wheel on this one. An expert did however say this idea would require three locks, not just one. Obviously it wouldn't keep all the water out but could greatly minimize the flooding that the tri-state area just suffered through.

What about you? Do you have a workable plan or do you support one of these ideas? Hit us up in comments ye engineering kinds...

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Jersey City's own Statue of Liberty was left to fend for herself during superstorm Sandy and while she came through like a champ, her downstairs neighbors not so much. Like much of Jersey City both Liberty and Ellis Island spent some time under the salty brines of the Atlantic Ocean. No exhibits were harmed and no records were lost. However both places are going to be closed for months until the usual inspections, electrical replacements, cleanup of the buildings and the islands, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

A nice story complete with pictures of what officials found when they came back after the storm is just a click away.

Johnny was vacationing in Nashville in the fall of 2006 when Robert Plant was cutting that magnificent album with Alison Krauss called Raising Sand also in Nashville. One morning Johnny and his bride were enjoying the cuisine at the famous Loveless Cafe. Breakfasts so good they make you cry knowing you're going to have to eat a common breakfast at some point. Well there is a gift shop out behind the restaurant where you can get some incredible bone sucking BBQ sauce they smoke on site. Johnny walked into the gift store to grab some sauce and heard the sales clerk calling her friend in a very excited tone. She hung up to wait on Johnny and Mrs. Johnny and leaned forward and said Robert Plant had JUST left the store. By just left she meant a minute. Johnny looked about for Mr. Plant (but like a dog who chases cars wouldn't know what to do with him if he'd caught up with him) but didn't find hide nor big hair. Now you know Johnny's Robert Plant story.

Well not all of it. Johnny had the country ham with red-eye gravy and of course grits. The biscuits at the Loveless Cafe will make you want to feed the Pillsbury Dough Boy to your dog. Johnny got two of those. NOW you know his Robert Plant story.

Friday, November 30, 2012

The Powerhouse Lounge (And the Powerhouse Lounge shuttle van looks so much better with the real address on the side rather than the old misspelling of Marin -- yeah, Johnny saw that) at 300 Marin Blvd. from 11am until 4pm. They are asking a $5 donation at the door for the Red Cross Sandy relief effort. Do what you can.

This is a huge event people, plan on getting there early. Christmas and holiday gifts galore and this sale has got something not a lot of other stores have while you shop. Can you get a cocktail at Target? Can you savor a good beer at Wally-Mart? That's right, this is the Powerhouse Lounge, drinks ahoy!

And don't forget, this Saturday is "just put that anywhere" parking all across our fair city from 1-1:15pm. For anyone unfamiliar with "just put that anywhere" parking it happens every December 1st and means what it says but the Jersey City tradition is that if you do get a ticket from 1-1:15 you just go toss it in the Hudson River for good luck all the year long.

Also, before or after the craft fair make sure to get over to K9dergarten for See Spot Rescued's adoption event!

Now we have no idea what city this lol nugget is from but it seems someone who lives at or near the corner of 8th and Dale is snowed in. While the city was busy answering (or apparently NOT answering) the call for city services at 8th and Dale, a chicken pot pie -- no make that a Swanson chicken pot pie -- ran east on Clay St.

Yes everyone's non-favorite party gal was arrested in Chelsea early this morning and charged with third-degree assault after a fight at a nightclub. We're not sure which Bible verses that Lohan and the other woman were debating before it escalated into a fight but LiLo had been banned from this very club, Club Avenue at 10th Ave and 17th St., earlier this year. Apparently either the ban had been lifted or Lohan snuck into Club Avenue dressed as Liz Taylor complete with a horrid overacting persona.

This is Lindsay's (can we call you Lindsay?) third run in this calendar year with cops which of course means one more and she gets her own reality show on TLC.

We realize the "disco ball" light show the other night was just that, swirling and going through all the lights and combinations to show all of New York and New Jersey what they could do. A lot of people were wowed by this according to the many videos up on Youtube of the event. Here's Johnny's take. Yes, the solid light colors will work much better as they are brighter and can be seen better from longer distances. The addition of more colors is fine.

But can we keep it from the disco ball swirling lights we saw the other night? Can we keep this iconic lighted superstructure from say "cheapening" itself by the swirly lights ALL the time? Can we keep it like it was before where it was lit up in certain colors for certain holidays and certain events without the need for this?

Yes, when the local sports teams win go crazy with their colors but for regular school nights, please for us photographers, can we keep solid colors as the norm?

Well the only part we were wrong about is that they are also more costly insurance-wise than accidents at other intersections without red-light cameras. Johnny has raised a stink to the level people in certain offices detest him over this issue. He sure wishes New Jersey residents, Jersey City residents in particular would finally STAND UP to our current administration and tell them no more and pull down the ones they have installed now.

Hey, it's YOUR safety kids.

If you won't listen to Johnny will you listen to the New Jersey Department of Transportation?

A New Jersey Department of Transportation analysis of two dozen intersections that have had the automated traffic cops for at least a year found that accidents — particularly rear-end crashes — have increased, and the collisions are more costly.
Then there is this from a representative of one of the companies making a killing with your money FOR DOING NOTHING, they EXPECTED these accidents:"Driver behavior doesn’t change overnight, but the findings in this report are largely consistent with programs around the country," said Charles Territo...
Consistent, so costly accidents go up for at least a year? That's nice isn't it?Read more on this dalliance with your safety and your insurance rates and then please contact your local elected representatives and tell them no more and get rid of the cameras already installed.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Johnny was part of an online discussion tonight when the topic of immigration came up. One of the posters was adamant that we needed to build a 200 foot tall fence along the border with Mexico. Johnny asked to make sure, 200 feet? Yes, 200 feet tall was the reply. Johnny then asked the person since a story is about ten feet he was proposing a wall about 20 stories tall. Johnny then asked said person exactly how high he thought illegal immigrants were capable of jumping.

And what goes better with the Holiday season that a warm puppy? Or a wonderful older pup who is just aces with kids and families? Our friends at See Spot Rescued are holding an adoption event this upcoming Saturday at K9dergarten at 173 Newark Ave. from 12-4.

See Spot Rescued has a wonderful selection of great dogs looking for a forever home. If you follow this link to their Facebook page you can see some of the great pooches ready for adoption. The dogs come spayed or neutered and are microchipped and up to date on vaccinations. How does Johnny know this? He adopted his Game of Thrones dire wolf from SSR (well OK they'd probably get upset with Johnny saying they have actual dire wolves for adoption so let's just say a small dire wolf lookalike). You will be AMAZED at how cute these pups are. Johnny never misses a chance to tell people when they comment how cute his dog is that he got her from See Spot Rescued. People seem surprised that it's not a dog with three legs or cut up from dogfighting. NO, these pups are cute and loving and wonderful.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Oh wait, no they're not. That's right. There is no game because Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman are both greedy assholes who don't give a shit about the true NHL fans. They only care about themselves.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Johnny's Browns don't beat the Steelers very often. Once every six years seems to be about the norm. They won today which means it's joke time. How does a Steelers fan deal with a bad hair day? Answer in comments.

Again, limited hours for Exchange Place and the WTC stops, 5am til 10pm just like the other stops when they started back up. Also of note, 9th St. and Christopher St. stops will be allowing normal traffic beginning tomorrow.

So, the only PATH station/stop not running is Hoboken. We have no word on when it will be back up. The Port Authority is still doing their best imitation of a dead person when it comes to giving information. The announcement of the WTC, Exchange Place and the 9th and Christopher St. updates were made by Governors Christie and Cuomo. So it would appear Hoboken is cut off from the rest of the world for another week or so. Somebody at the Port Authority needs to see the back of the unemployment line after this. ALL the other stations are back up and running. Hoboken? Not so much. No word, no update. Why does the Port Authority even bother with a Twitter account to update riders? They have 3 posts in the last 9 days.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

So give the big box stores a chilly shoulder today and especially avoid the one who doesn't want to pay workers too much and then hands then food stamp and welfare applications on payday, it's a Small Business Saturday. There is no shortage of wonderful and worthwhile small businesses to shop at around the area. They are probably hurting more than usual after the big storm.

If you're gonna drop some cash on a gift why not buy it from your neighbors? If they do better, you do better.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Strike three. Three times in the last month you have been handed a prescription from Johnny, prescriptions he is told by his doctor aren't all that uncommon. In fact the last prescription he got on Wednesday he specifically asked his doctor if Duane Reade should have this particular drug onhand. He assured Johnny they should. "It's pretty common."

Fast forward to today. Bzzzzzzt. Nope, "We don't have that in stock, come back Monday after 2pm." Isn't that special? A med to help with pain and discomfort, just come back Monday, MONDAY after 2pm. This is the third time in the span of about a month he's been told to, like in the Wizard of Oz, "Go away and come back tomorrow." Or in this case come back next week.

So Duane Reade and your new paymasters at Walgreens, this was it. Johnny will happily find a new pharmacy. You obviously can't handle the needs of the community pharmacy-wise, so a new pharmacy is needed. He can't wait three days for his meds. Nobody should have to.

One more note for the folks at DR, this also means Johnny will stop at a local bodega for chips and what not on those nights he gets off the PATH and he needs chips or some bread or a beverage. He'll choose to pay more at a local business because after Monday, Duane Reade is persona non-gratis. If you can't uphold your most basic store tenet don't expect Johnny to do it either.

Because it's just not often you see a highly paid QB get blasted into the turf by the ass of his own lineman, and then have the resulting fumble returned for a touchdown (New England scored 35 points in the second quarter while holding the ball for just over two of the fifteen minutes involved). This clip is an instant classic....of fail.

The spire that will sit atop the 1 World Trade building which will give it it's iconic 1,776 feet in height is on the way by barge, being delivered in eighteen sections. The Associated Press picks up the story:

Eight of the sections are being transported via barge 1,500 nautical miles south from Canada on the Atlantic Salvor. It left Quebec on Nov. 16 and is expected next week at Port Newark in New Jersey.
When the time comes for the sections to be installed it will take about three months to complete. The spire itself will stand 408 feet in the air from the top of the WTC.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

You know we're sincere when you see the exclamation point ya know. Enjoy the day with family and friends and see if you can't work Samoset into your discussion today. You'll sound like your grade school education wasn't just spent eating paste. Try and give thanks for something important today and not just that Aunt Donna brought extra pies. If you were trying to track this American classic down search no more, gather the family round for 'Turkey Carols' and SING!